Nalira Hastclaw
|tribe=Ze (by birth) None (de facto) |hair=Black |eyes=Dark blue |weapon=Heavy Armblade |weapon_name=Vendetta |education=Mostly military |religion=Naramatism |other_features=Crippled right arm |parents=Agrantius Hastclaw (father) Lana Hastclaw (mother) |relatives=Anek Hastclaw (brother) }}Nalira Hastclaw is a tribeless sellsword and orphan, though she also associates with the Ze, the tribe in which she was born. Her father was a high-ranking knight of the Ze who was killed when Nalira was 14. Her mother died when she was at a young age. After being taken from the Ze and imprisoned by Ka soldiers, she now travels with Rarhm Urhunn-Kogno, Rouke Kalaus, and Eril Sontae. Early life Nalira's father, Agrantius Hastclaw, was a highly ranked and well respected knight within the Ze tribe. Nalira, especially, grew to revere him. Due to her father's considerable prestige and relative wealthiness, Nalira's early life was easy. Agrantius' pressing duties and her mother's death meant that Nalira's brother Anek Hastclaw was primarily responsible for raising her. While Nalira and Anek often got along well, increasing pressure on Anek to prove his skill in combat led him to resent her, maintaining that being required to look after Nalira hurt his training. Despite Anek's accusations, both Nalira and her brother were well educated. Though their education was strongly biased towards combat and weapons training, neither Nalira nor Anek were fighters of the caliber of Agrantius Hastclaw. Orphaning and kidnapping During the 540th fall, Agrantius Hastclaw was killed in battle by a Kaian Knight. Though many assumed he was killed after losing a fight with the knight, Nalira and her brother maintained that he was the victim of dishonorable Kaian tactics. Despite her father's considerable wealth, she inherited nearly nothing, as the increasingly troubled Anek Hastclaw accused her of being a bastard in order to secure his inheritance. A family friend did, however, return Agrantius' sword Vendetta to her after it was retrieved from the site of the battle. Nalira, having been educated very little in practical trades and no longer of the caste expected of a knight, was forced to join an orphanage. Nalira did not take the rapid decrease in caste well, and she took to frequently wandering outside of the orphanage. In 541st winter, Nalira's wandering led to her being kidnapped by a member of the Malka looking to create new nymphs. After a few weeks of captivity, Nalira managed to sneak to the belongings of the girls who had been kidnapped and retrieve Vendetta, which she had been carrying with her at the time. With the help of a few other girls who had been kidnapped, Nalira killed the on-duty guard and freed some of the other kidnappees. In the fight, however, her right arm was badly wounded and never recovered. She was forced to run away, and has never been able to find the man who kidnapped her. As a result of her injury, she is restricted in use of her right arm below the elbow. Shortly after being freed, Nalira met a Malkan blacksmith, known as Khaj Rotash. After shooing her off of his street corner, drawn by the smell of the fresh food he often made, Khaj offered Nalira shelter under the condition that she help him with his smithy. He eventually also offered to reforge Vendetta, which was originally too large for Nalira to wield with one hand, into a heavy armblade, his weapon of choice. Nalira accepted, wanting to be able to use her father's weapon. Great Malkan War Hearing of possible conflicts between the Ka and Ze tribes, Nalira sensed an opportunity to improve her status and extract partial revenge for her father's death. She left Khaj and followed in the shadow of the Malkan army's supply lines. Category:Living people Category:Malka Category:Non-Canon Category:Ze